Province to offer funding for Northern BC municipalities and First Nations to address impact of large scale development

They may be getting ready to churn out funding application in many communities of the Northwest, with the Province of British Columbia outlining the details towards the Northern Health Communities Fund,  which will see 25 million dollars made available to 22 local governments and 27 First Nations.

The program a new one (and not to be confused with a Northern Health initiative of a similar name) was introduced by Municipal Affairs Minister Josie Osborne on Thursday; with the distribution of the program to be provided by the provinces partner for the program the Northern Development Initiative Trust.

Because of rapid economic growth, the $25-million fund will be available to 22 local governments and 27 First Nations near the LNG Canada and Coastal Gaslink projects, along with non-profit organizations that provide critical services to those communities. -- From Thursday's announcement of the new Northern Healthy Communities Fund

In the Northwest, the scope of the available funding seems limited to communities adjacent to the Highway 16/37 corridors; with the western border of the local government application zone being that of the City of Terrace. 

NDIT did confirm that both Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams can qualify,  with those communities included as part of the 27 First Nation contingent.

Seemingly, since Prince Rupert and Port Edward are not impacted by either of the LNG related projects, they along with the North Coast Regional District have been left off the list for this particular pool of available provincial money.

For those communities that can apply, there are two funding streams available, Capacity Building and Capital project program. 

Joel McKay, CEO of Northern Development Initiative Trust noted how the funding will help to meet the need across the region.

“The trust is pleased to partner with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to administer the Northern Healthy Communities Fund. With immense economic growth comes population growth and the increased need for social services. I applaud the Province for recognizing this need and providing robust funding to meet it head on” 

Learn more about the program from Tuesday's statement here, as well as from Northern Development Initiative Trust.

For further notes on provincial themes see our Legislature archive page here.